We don’t pick other countries’ leaders, but we do get to pick our allies

Let me finish tonight with this.

Think, right now, of the American soldier on post right now somewhere in the wildness of Afghanistan. He faces, somewhere beyond his binoculars, a hostile force. Enemies lurk all around, watching for their chance.

It is a brutal life far from your own country—far from evidence, the kind that matters, that the people back in America, care about the cause you are fighting.

Then today comes the word from our ally in Kabul, President Karzai himself, that the United States is getting people to be “suicide bombers” and killing Americans in order to justify our staying in Afghanistan longer.

Imagine fighting for this guy? Imagine being an American soldier in harm’s way, worrying that the head of the government you’re risking your life to defend, is headed by a “truther,” someone who honestly believes Americans have each other killed in order to justify occupying some place like Afghanistan.

I know we don’t get to pick foreign leaders. But we do get to pick our allies. Betting on this character takes an enormous faith in nationalism—even the Karzai brand.